Chesco federation will continued despite pullouts

This map shows the member municipalities of the Northern Federation of Chester County Municipalities as it stood at the beginning of 2012. Since then, three towns, East Nantmeal, East Vincent and South Coventry, have distanced themselves from the organization. For a larger map, visit http://www3.allaroundphilly.com/Mercury/map/BigNorthernFedMap.jpg

The chairman of the Northern Federation of Chester County Communities said the fact that three towns have pulled back from the organization to some extend in the last six months does not mean the organization is in danger of dissolving.

North Coventry Township Supervisor Andy Paravis, long an advocate of regional planning and open space preservation, said to his knowledge there has no discussion on his board about dropping out of the organization.

And although East Coventry Supervisor Michael Moyer sent an e-mail to The Mercury indicating his support for the withdrawal vote taken by East Vincent Township on Nov. 14, Township Manager Bernard Rogers said there has been no public discussion at any East Coventry Supervisors meetings about withdrawing from the Northern Federation.

The “Northern Fed,” as it is sometimes known, was first formed in 1974 and has an impressive track record, said Charles Jacob the federation chairman and also chairman of the Warwick Township Supervisors; and it’s not going anywhere.

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“I have been involved with the fed since 1984 and I became chairman 16 or 17 years ago and over the years, we’ve had towns come and towns go.

“We’ve had as few as five members,” Jacob said. “We tend to get towns joining when we have a big issue facing the region and we don’t really have one right now.”

In fact, if the Northern Federation can be said to have a “big issue” it would probably be the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan adopted earlier this year by all nine towns in the federation — at least when the federation had nine member towns.

When East Nantmeal withdrew from the federation in July, Supervisors Chairman James Jenkins Jr. pointed to fear of the potential costs of a sports complex cited in the study as the primary reason for leaving, even though none of the 10 possible locations for the complex listed in the open space plan, were located in East Nantmeal.

Those sites were clustered along the Route 724, Route 100 and Route 401 corridors.

East Vincent Township Manager Mary Flagg several times mentioned a “multi-million dollar sports complex” as a concern in her township.

But Jacob pointed out that no town that did not want such a complex would be forced to either host it or to contribute to its construction or upkeep. “It would be strictly voluntary,” he said. “I think a lot of people are jumping to conclusions.”

East Vincent Supervisor Christine McNeil, who served as vice chairperson of the Northern Federation until her township pulled out of the organization on Nov. 14, said the Federation has not moved any further forward on this particular aspect of the parks plan than any other.

Nevertheless, she maintains it would be a positive addition to any township which wants it, likening it to Bear Stadium in Boyertown.

“It could boost the economy in the area and our kids could host tournament play instead of having to travel everywhere else all the time,” she said.

The plan’s call for more fields, based on a survey of the member townships, could also make it easier for adult leagues to play as well, McNeil said.

Jacob said nothing in the plan is likely to move forward without a funding source and both he and McNeil pointed to the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation’s interest in funding projects which encourage a more active lifestyle.

Jacob added, “I can’t say who, but we’ve been approached by a major investor who is interested in funding as much as 95 percent of the sports complex, but they may not want to move forward when they see all this turmoil.”

“There are opportunities out there, but we’re going to have to work to get this funded,” said Jacob.

But some municipal officials, like East Vincent Supervisor Jane Peronteau, feel its time to focus on township needs rather than regional ones.

“We need to focus in on our township parks and our township before we begin to focus on regional policy,” Peronteau said at the Nov. 14 meeting of the supervisors at which she voted to withdraw from the federation.

“The Northern Federation is being run by other interest groups that are seeking to fulfill their needs before the township needs of the northern federation needs,” she said.

Whatever opportunities the Northern Federation does decide to pursue, it will likely enjoy the continued support of the Chester County Planning Commission, said the executive director Ronald Bailey.

Bailey said the county appreciates when townships work together because it is more efficient to approach land use issues when a regional consensus is built.

In fact the federation is featured in “Landscapes,” Chester County’s Comprehensive plan and cited as an example of regional planning.

Begun to protect the area along the French Creek corridor, it has now conducted 13 regional studies examining development along Route 100, managing water resources, historic resources and water run-off and sewage.

In 1993, it even conducted a study of the Pennhurst property in East Vincent.

“We have supported the federation for a number of years and funded a number of studies,” Bailey said. “It’s a very good vehicle for communicating,” Bailey said.

The cooperation saves money because funding sources, especially state funding, tends to favor cooperative efforts among municipalities, thus cutting the cost for individual municipalities which are looking to plan for their future needs, Landscapes notes.

“The regional studies and plans completed by the Northern Federation have been successful because they evaluate regional conditions through one planning effort, rather than addressing them through a collection of municipal documents,” Landscapes notes.

“The 1990 Water Resource Management Study was completed by just one consultant, but it provided baseline wastewater planning for seven municipalities,” the plan notes.

“There are 73 municipalities in Chester County and from time to time, they find it convenient to aggregate into a group of municipalities and there are clear advantages,” said Bailey.

“It’s much more efficient for us to deal with public policies with several municipalities because there are a lot of issues which go beyond municipal boundaries,” said Bailey.

In the Northern Federation, “those issues have tended to focus on the Hopewell Big Woods and the Schuylkill Highlands,” he said. “But other than that, there are no big compelling issues to encourage membership right now and convince municipalities to be active with the federation.”

“But the county planning commission will continue to bring resources to the table as partners,” Dailey said.